Making Big Fat Claims How to get your prospects' interest <i>before</i> you move in for the sale

In January 1848, James Marshall had a work crew camped on theAmerican River at Coloma near Sacramento. The crew was building asaw mill for John Sutter. On the cold, clear morning of January 24,Marshall found a few tiny gold nuggets. From those first fewnuggets came one of the largest human migrations in history as halfa million people from around the world descended upon California insearch of instant wealth.

The excitement surrounding the discovery of gold grew quickly.By the summer of 1848, outlandish stories about fabulousdiscoveries came back to the East Coast from the gold mines atSutter's sawmill. In fact, everybody was buzzing about"Gold! Gold!" The buzz got so bad that soldiers began todesert their duties. Ordinary citizens were hitching up theirwagons and loading up their pack mules to go to the mines.

What was it that caused people to act so decisively, to pack upand travel from one side of the country to the other? It was asingle bold idea-a BIG FAT CLAIM!